Stand against California 'assisted suicide' law Aug. 26, 2016

California assisted suicide law being challenged

UPDATE & ACTION ALERT -- August 1, 2016

Last year, the battle over the dangerous "assisted suicide" bill was fought and lost in Sacramento. But now, there’s a chance to have this bad bill ruled unconstitutional – because it violates due process, equal protection, and the legislative process.

Life-affirming doctors and attorneys from the Life Legal Defense Foundation are taking on liberal Democrat Attorney General Kamala Harris. LLDF argues the “assisted suicide” law violates the supreme law – the California State Constitution.

A hearing originally scheduled in Riverside County last month has been delayed until August 26. The judge wants more time to study the issue and appears to be taking it seriously, and that’s a good thing.

Your Action Steps

1. PRAY: Pray to God, asking Him to work on Judge Daniel Ottolia, a Republican, to abide by the California Constitution that he's sworn to uphold

2. SIT IN SUPPORT: Please bring yourself and others to Riverside County Court on Friday, August 26 at 7:30 a.m. (the hearing begins at 8:30 a.m.) to support life and oppose suicide (4050 Main Street, go to Department 4 and line up at the door to get a seat).

It would be good to make a rectangular red sticker(about the size of a large name tag) reading something like, "AB X2-15 is UN-constitutional" to wear in court on your shirt or lapel, since no signage is allowed.

Says expert Margaret Dore in the article, "California's New Assisted Suicide Law: Whose Choice Will it Be?": "The California bill [now law] applies to persons with a 'terminal disease,' which is defined as having a medical prognosis of less than six months to live. Such persons can, in reality, have years to live, with the more obvious reasons being misdiagnosis and the fact that predicting life expectancy is not an exact science. Doctors can sometimes be very wrong."

If you were among the thousands who stood strong FOR Life and AGAINST 'assisted suicide' in California, THANK YOU for doing what was right by making phone calls, sending emails, faxing letters, and speaking out on social media.

Thank you for doing your part alongside SaveCalifornia.com in the fight for what's right!

Thank you for fighting alongside SaveCalifornia.com in this crucial battle for LIFE. Because all innocent lives matter from conception to natural death. And with your participation, the fight's not over! But time is SHORT.

Since "assisted suicide" passed the State Senate 23 to 14 (the same 3-vote margin as in early June when a similar bill, SB 128, passed the Democrat-controlled Senate), we implore you to lobby Governor Jerry Brown, where we have a better chance. Yes, this deceptive bill could be vetoed, and now's the time for a crush of opposition calls, emails, and faxes. It was reported on Sept. 25 that the Governor's office had finally received ABX2-15 -- "enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m." -- giving him until Oct. 7 to sign or veto this bad bill.

1) Make your CALL to Gov. Jerry Brown

Please urge Gov. Brown to VETO ABX2-15.

Call his office at 916-445-2841 (M-F only 9a-5p PT).

We sincerely appreciate you participating with SaveCalifornia.com in fighting this dangeorous "assisted suicide" bill that will transform California into the Suicide State if it's signed. We worked very hard against this bad bill, which could have been stopped if anti-suicide legislators had done their homework and publicly exposed how the deceptively-written ABX2-15 doesn't ensure choice and doesn't prevent abuse. Now and together, we must create a flood of phone calls urging Jerry Brown to veto it.

There's a web form on the Governor's website to register your opposition (the subject on their web form is: X2AB00015\End of life and selecting the option CON will immediately register your opposition). So please do this right now — it only takes 1 minute!

And then share with others how they can email too. Help build a tidal wave of opposition against California becoming the Suicide State.

Every business, church, school, and organization that faxes Gov. Brown their opposition to ABX2-15 on their official letterhead is an even greater voice FOR life and AGAINST this terrible "assisted suicide" bill. Because businesses, churches, schools, and organizations carry more weight than one person.

Gov. Brown: Don't let California become a suicide state. VETO ABX2-15. There's no witness required at death, no self-administer requirement, it allows forgery on the 48-hr form, and it kills off vulnerable people.

Gov. Brown, please VETO ABX2-15. People who could fight to live or even extend their lives will be 'helped' to die early. That is shameful and criminal.

VETO ABX2-15 Governor Brown! Today's modern drugs can numb nearly every pain and an over-the-counter fatal dose is already available. This bill is unnecessary.

Every business, church, school, and organization that faxes Gov. Brown their opposition to ABX2-15 on their official letterhead is a significant voice FOR life and AGAINST this terrible "assisted suicide" bill. Because the Governor has only until Sept. 28 to sign or veto this bad bill.

Please carefully follow these easy instructions:

1. Copy and paste the two-page letter below into a new document on your computer (you may need to first copy and paste in Notepad, then copy and paste from Notepad into Word or Publisher, etc) 2. Edit all these areas (shown in red below): the date at the top, your business/church/school/organization name in the first paragraph; and the signature area at the end3. Print on your letterhead (page 1 should be your letterhead and page 2 can be plain)4. Sign it5. Fax to Governor Jerry Brown at 916-558-31606. Fax a copy of your letter to SaveCaifornia.com at 916-848-3456(no cover sheet needed / do not mention SaveCalifornia.com in your letter to Brown.)

(Name of business, church, school, organization) strongly urges you to veto ABX2-15, which would usher “assisted suicide” into California. Most states have rejected so-called “aid-in-dying” legislation and California should not repeat Oregon’s mistake.

ABX2-15 should be rejected because:

1. Individual choice is not practically ensured: No witness at death, no requirement to self-administer the lethal dose, and effectively permitting forgery of a final attestation form sets up weak and vulnerable Californians to be killed off. Elder abuse, already a huge problem, would be exacerbated by this bill. ABX2-15 permits a legal heir – a person with a financial self-interest – to help request and even administer the lethal drug. Section 443.1(b) says “the qualified individual may choose to self-administer”; likewise, Section 443.1(i) says "may self-administer" – but nowhere in the bill does it say "must self-administer" or "shall self-administer" – thus another person could administer the lethal dose. If the prescribed patient hesitates or delays, what's to stop someone from dissolving the water-soluble drug and giving it to the unsuspecting patient to drink? Predators, even within the family, would be virtually exempt from law enforcement because no witness is required and the bill protects them from civil liability and criminal prosecution. For without a witness, how would anyone know whether a crime was committed or if there was resistance or a struggle? Likewise, the final attestation form within 48 hours of ingesting a lethal dose cannot be verified or enforced, so how can it be known whether the now-dead individual actually filled out the final form? This bill also promotes medical deception by prohibiting doctors from writing “suicide” or even “physician-assisted suicide” on the death certificate as the cause of death. It sets ups “the perfect crime.”

What’s more, ABX2-15 does not require a psychiatrist to expertly confirm the patient “has the capacity to make medical decisions, is acting voluntarily, and has made an informed decision.” And what about developmentally disabled persons, people with dementia or Alzheimer’s, persons with severe physical disabilities, and persons with ALS who can’t talk or swallow? Since people with these conditions can't reliably choose suicide, why aren’t they exempt from the bill to protect them from deadly abuse? And consider that 40% of Oregon assisted suicides involved persons who viewed themselves as a “burden” on family, friends, and caregivers. Will people under pressure from others be viewed as volunteering for early death?

2. Elder abuse leading to death is not effectively prohibited: The bill's so-called "safeguards" are unworkable and unenforceable. Those who steer patients to die prematurely will avoid exposure. Consider that doctors have total immunity at the request portion and anyone “assisting” with implementing the lethal dose is nearly completely exempt from any civil liability or criminal prosecution despite their misdeeds. The felony provision for “undue influence” is not defined in the bill and is therefore legally vague and unenforceable. Therefore, this bill would open a virtual Pandora’s Box allowing the State, HMOs, hospitals, doctors, and nurses to steer depressed patients toward suicide. As elder-abuse attorney Margaret Dore, an expert on assisted suicide and euthanasia, writes: “ABX2-15…is a recipe for elder abuse. The bill is not limited to people who are dying. Indeed, ‘eligible’ persons can have years, even decades, to live. … In Oregon, which has a similar law, that state's Medicaid program uses coverage incentives to steer people to suicide. If ABX2-15 is enacted, California's Medicaid [Medi-Cal] program, as well as private insurers, will be able to engage in this same conduct.” In Oregon, the State has sent letters that both reject an individual’s request for medical treatment and instead suggest suicide. Is ABX2-15 any different, as it permits insurers to reject medical treatment in one letter and suggest suicide in a second letter?

3. This bill is unnecessary for those wishing a lethal dose: It is not illegal to commit suicide in California. Although law enforcement and emergency medical personnel perform admirable suicide prevention efforts, there’s no “penalty” for depressed Californians who commit suicide. And they have already ample opportunity. As compound pharmacist and state Senator Jeff Stone described in the Sept. 11 floor debate, one can buy at a drug store the sedating antihistamine Benadryl, a six-pack of beer at a liquor store, and “they can take the entire bottle of Benadryl, enjoy their beer, and before the sixth beer is drunk, they will have a fatal overdose”; or with a doctor’s prescription, obtain the narcotic analgesic OxyContin “and achieve the same outcome.” In addition, if the State unnecessarily legalizes some suicides, a likely consequence would be an increase in general (conventional) suicides. The Oregon government statistics from 2012 are sobering: “In 2010, the age-adjusted suicide rate among Oregonians of 17.1 per 100,000 was 41 percent higher than the national average. The rate of suicide among Oregonians has been increasing since 2000. … Suicide is the second leading cause of death among Oregonians ages 15-34, and the 8th leading cause of death among all Oregonians in 2010.”

4. Let the people decide: “Assisted suicide” is such a controversial public issue, the People should be allowed to decide it. If there is a ballot initiative, its outcome would appropriately express the People’s will, rather than the government’s.

Governor Brown, please veto ABX2-15 for these reasons, and to avoid sending a pro-suicide message to teens and young adults in California.

4. Under “Please Choose Your Subject,” scroll down to the very bottom of the list and select X2AB00015\End of life. (This is what the governor’s staff wrote and even though it’s not the exact number of the bill, they know it’s “assisted suicide,” so go with it)

5. Click “Continue”

6. Note: A new page will open up

7. At the top of this new page, you must choose Conin order to have your opposition immediately counted (THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART)

8. Under “Write your email,” you may enter in additional comments about why the “assisted suicide” bill is bad (some users have said you must write something in order to process your request, such as “Veto assisted suicide”)